Madison County Winery will return to the Swine Festival in Ankeny as a vendor. This year, attendance will be capped at 2,000 for the event. / Register file photo

Catch Weird Al Yankovic's unique spin on pop favorites

Weird Al Yankovic, a musician many of you may have spent way too much time listening to in elementary and middle school, will perform at Hoyt Sherman Place on Aug. 4. In case you’ve been totally pop culturally uninformed for the last quarter century, Weird Al is a parody artist who puts a comedic spin on pop favorites. “Beat It” became “Eat It.” “I Love Rock & Roll” became “I Love Rocky Road.” “My Sharona” became “My Bologna.”

Tickets are $39.50-$59.50 and go on sale Friday through Ticketmaster.

Sample sips from 15 central Iowa wineries at Swine Festival

The seventh annual Swine Festival on June 1 at the Des Moines Area Community College campus in Ankeny, will feature 15 central Iowa chefs and 15 Iowa wineries and one cider house. Chefs will prepare samples of gourmet pork offerings while wineries will pour samples and offer wine for sale.

This year, attendance will be capped at 2,000. Tickets are $35 and available at www.tikly.co. Entry fee includes a bottle of wine of each guest’s choice, commemorative wine glass, unlimited wine and pork samples and live music. If tickets are not sold out, they will be available at the gate the day of the event for $40. Some vendors for this year’s event include Smokey D’s, Tamale’s Industry, Gramercy Tap, Fleming’s, Jasper Winery, Madison County Winery, Snus Hill Winery and many more.

The Uncluded to play show at Wooly's in June

The Uncluded, rapper Aesop Rock and folk singer Kimya Dawson (The Moldy Peaches, most of the “Juno” soundtrack), will play Wooly’s on July 1.

Next month the duo will release its debut album, “Hockey Fright,” on the Minneapolis label Rhymesayers. The two worked together on Dawson’s 2011 album, “Thunder Thighs,” but “Hockey Fright” is more of a 50/50 collaboration.

More music news

The fifth annual Maha Music Festival will be held Aug. 17 at the Aksarben Village in Omaha and will feature The Flaming Lips, Husker Du frontman Bob Mould, Matt & Kim, The Thermals, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Sons of Fathers, Millions of Boys, Digital Leather, Criteria, The Millions, Paper Rock Dynamite and Hers. Tickets are $45 and are on sale now through www.etix.com.